The present invention relates to a connection for coiled tubing; more specifically, to a triple-sealed penetrator permitting the deployment of an electrical submersible pump into a well bore on coiled tubing creating barriers preventing the migration of well bore gases and fluids through the coiled tubing to the surface or from the annulus of the wellhead to the electrical connection within the wellbore.
The deployment of electrical submersible pumps (ESP) around the world is becoming more common as existing geophysical pressures decline in oil and gas producing areas. ESPs frequently require repair or replacement; requiring deployment of workover rigs to each well to pull the existing pump and replace it after servicing. Operators of such equipment have long sought to replace the need for workover rigs by utilizing coiled tubing injector head assemblies, which are smaller and easier to move onto a well site. Since the tubing is continuous, the deployment of an ESP can be accomplished in as little as one hour, as opposed to a workover rig requiring a day or more of rig time. Previous attempts to use coiled tubing to run ESPs in wells were problematical because of the expansion and contraction of the electrical conductors within the coiled tubing from natural relaxation of the tubing after installation or from heating and cooling cycles during operation of the ESP. This caused operators to spiral excess slack from the electrical conductors in the annulus adjacent the wellhead to permit the expansion and contraction of the conductors within the well bore. Now, operators have developed an electrical conductor coiled tubing operation that avoids this problem by fixing the electrical conductor within the coiled tubing, thereby preventing excessive movement within the coiled tubing and permitting lighter stuffing box canister arrangements. This reduced size and weight has increased the owners' attention to sealing the ESP cable within the wellbore to prevent egress of dangerous explosive vapors. Demand for a seal on both the coiled tubing and the wellhead leads to the present embodiments.